Olympic chiefs backtrack on why they sent British member Adam Pengilly home from Games

Pengilly was sent home after an altercation with a paid security guard, though an IOC spokesman initially said it acted fast because it involved a volunteerShaun Botterill/Getty Images

Olympic chiefs have denied double standards over its decision to send British IOC member Adam Pengilly home from the winter Games after his altercation with a security guard.

The IOC’s presidential spokesman Mark Adams justified the swift action by saying four times that the person involved was a volunteer but it later emerged that he was a paid, employed security guard.

Adam Pengilly, a former Olympian skeleton racer, was rushing to the arena in Pyeongchang after missing a bus when he was stopped from taking an unauthorised route.

After exchanging words, the guard tried to take a photo of Pengilly’s accreditation. He refused and instead ran past him. Reports in the Korean media suggested that there was a scuffle between the pair. Another report claimed…